


A Sea of Stars

by GalaxyMermaid214



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Original Characters - Freeform, Rating will most likely change, first fanfic in YEARS please go easy on me, now with art!, will eventually be CaptainxMax
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28732950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyMermaid214/pseuds/GalaxyMermaid214
Summary: A woman trying to live a dead man's life. A man trying to find all the answers. A crew in search of adventure and fortune. The Halcyon colony is a chaotic place. But sometimes, you must lose yourself in the chaos to find out who you really are.A novelization of my playthrough of The Outer Worlds, with a little bit of (eventual) CaptainxMax goodness thrown in.
Relationships: The Captain/Maximillian DeSoto
Comments: 12
Kudos: 7





	1. Her Last Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aayla boards the Hope and gets a rude awakening.

_“Why stay Earthbound when prosperity awaits you in the stars? Come to Halcyon, the only colony on the edge of the frontier owned and operated by corporations!”_

The booming, overly enthusiastic voice echoed throughout the terminal as the commercial started up again for what might as well have been the millionth time. Huge aetherwave screens plastered all over the walls showed a rotating series of idealized scenes: a pristine spacecraft soaring through endless space; strange, alien landscapes; futuristic cities full of towering, pristine buildings; happy, smiling people and families; everything required to sell the idea of an exciting new life in space.

_“With only a minor term of service, you will become the master of your own destiny, when you go out of this world to the Halcyon colony!”_

By now, most of the people inside the terminal had tuned it all out. Their attention was focused on something much more impressive – the giant starship that sat lit up before them. The Hope. It was a fitting name for such a vessel, as it carried not only the hopes of all the would-be colonists who boarded it, but hope for the entire colony. They were to be the first inhabitants of Halcyon, an entire generation of scientists, artists, engineers and scholars ready to make their home in the stars beyond.

And among the hundreds of thousands of people in the queue was a woman with nowhere left to go.

Aayla Ven ran her fingers over the data cartridge stuffed in her pocket over and over again, as if it were a set of prayer beads or a lucky charm. She glanced around at the crowd surrounding her from all sides. She couldn’t trust any of them. She pulled the hood of her jacket up further over her head, as if she were trying to make herself invisible. All this secrecy, this anxiety, it annoyed her.

Were it any other night, she would be at the lounge by now, waiting in the wings with a glass of wine, ready to go on stage and sing for the patrons. She was a different person when she was performing, a radiant and powerful woman full of charm and confidence. Someone she wished she could be all the time. But she knew better. She couldn’t go back there now. Not after…

“It’s fine…” she muttered to herself. “You’re almost there.”

There were only a couple of people ahead of her in line to board. She tried in vain to calm her racing heart as she approached the fully armored guard checking everyone in. Her fingers tightened around the cartridge in her pocket as the guard looked her way and motioned her forward. She whispered under her breath as she approached. “Whoever’s up there...please let this work.”

“May I see your boarding pass, please?”

Wordlessly, Aayla removed the cartridge from her pocket and handed it over to the guard. After several tense seconds of typing and waiting, he looked back up at Aayla. “There seems to be an irregularity with your boarding pass, ma’am.”

Her heart sank. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

“What do you mean, ‘irregularity?’” she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

“Not to worry, we just need some additional identification from you to verify that this boarding pass belongs to you. If you’ve got a Board-certified photo ID on you, that’ll suffice.”

The guard was tall and imposing, but his voice was quite young. He reminded Aayla of one of the bouncers she was fond of teasing back at the lounge. That’s when she got an idea: guys like him were suckers for a pretty face. She had been able to talk her way out of showing ID in the past. Could it work this time, too?

Only one way to find out.

“A photo?” her voice took on a slightly smoother, deeper tone as she slowly pulled her hood down off her head. Deep blue, almost black curls fell around a heart-shaped face as soft, powder blue eyes gazed up at the guard and ruby red lips curled into a mischievous smile. “Wouldn’t you prefer the real thing?”

“Uh…I-I…” Even through the helmet he wore, Aayla was certain the guard was blushing.

“The thing is, in all the excitement, I seem to have misplaced my ID,” she continued, placing a delicate hand on his chest piece. “So silly of me, I know. I’m sure it’s on me somewhere…” She leaned in closer and whispered, “If you’ll just let me on the ship, maybe I’ll let you frisk me and find it for yourself…”

“Y-you’re clear to go, ma’am!” The guard’s voice cracked as he replied. Aayla giggled and thanked him before pulling the hood back over her head with a wink and walking onto the ship. Good to know she could still perform under pressure.

Once inside, the process of boarding became much more automated. She was more or less herded through the promenade with the rest of the colonists, handing over what few belongings she took with her and receiving a hibernation suit in exchange. After changing, she was led to the massive hibernation chamber, where thousands upon thousands of rows of pods were lined up waiting for occupation. The area was a bustle of activity, with people running around trying to locate their individual pods and crew members attempting, and failing, to bring order to the massive influx of people. But in a little while, the whole place would fall silent. All the colonists would be put into cryogenic stasis, and the chamber would be more akin to a freezer.

Or a graveyard.

The thought sent a chill through Aayla. In all honesty, she hadn’t been too keen on the idea of being a human popsicle for the next ten years. But at this point, she had no other option left. She couldn’t stay. There was nowhere left she could go, no one left she could turn to, nothing in her old life that was safe anymore. Her life on Earth was already over.

The Hope was, quite literally, her last hope.

“It’ll be all right.” Aayla told herself as she stepped inside the surprisingly roomy pod. “It will all be all right. It’s all behind you now. No one…no one has to know. The old Aalya Ven is gone…and someone new will take her place in Halcyon.” With that last thought, the door to her pod slammed shut, and she fell into a quick and deep sleep.

* * *

The sound of clinking machinery, electrical sparks and a very faint alarm roused Aayla from her slumber. Although she was conscious, she was far from awake. Her head was heavy and felt like it had been packed full of cotton. Her limbs felt like they weighed a hundred tons each. Her hearing had come back, but her vision was still blurry. She couldn’t make out where she was, it was all just a blur of shapes and colors. She could see a silhouette of a person, someone older, someone familiar to her…

“Ah! There you are! Wondering what’s going on, eh?”

The loud slam of the pod door jolted her out of her stupor. Her body still couldn’t move, but through the scuffed-up porthole, she could tell she wasn’t in the same pod she went under in. She wasn’t even aboard the Hope. She was…where was she, anyway? And who was this wild-eyed old man talking at her?

“Bit of bad news, I’m afraid,” the old man continued, barely acknowledging her as he started working on the pod she was in. “Your colony ship was inexplicably knocked out of skip space, and forced to complete its journey at sub light speeds. This means that you and every other colonist on the Hope have been in suspended animation for…seventy years, give or take?”

_…Seventy…years? No…no, that can’t be right…_

As the man went on and on about “explosive cell death” or someone other equally horrifying concept, Aayla was frozen in place, both physically and figuratively. This must be a dream, she decided. Some sore of cryogenic sleep-induced hallucination. There was no way she had been asleep for the past seventy years. …right?

“Something wrong?” the man put his hand up to the glass, a look of concern on his face followed by immediate realization. “Oh, yes, well, not to worry. I've pumped your body full of a special concoction I devised to keep you from dying so…horrifically!” The more the man spoke, the more horrified Aayla became. But he seemed to no longer notice her obvious distress as he continued, tools flying left and right as he was, presumably, repairing the pod she was in.

“Unfortunately, I used the last of my chemical supply saving you. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I must have your help securing more if we're to save the rest of your fellow colonists. I‘d see it done myself, of course, but the Board has a sizable bounty on my head.” To illustrate his point, he held up what looked like a bounty poster, his face sketched onto it and a name underneath: “WANTED: Dead or Alive - Phineas Vernon Welles.”

“Now, my ship is inoperative, but I’ve managed to hire a smuggler to help you out. His name is Hawthorne, and he should be waiting for you at the landing site. He’s to be your…chauffeur, so to speak. Not to worry, I’m told he’s a specialist. Dashing, gunslinger, one-of-a-kind ship, that sort of thing. You’ll like him, I’m sure!”

A bright light and a loud tone interrupted him. He looked off to the source of the interruption and clasped his hands together excitedly. “Ah, I see we’re in position!” Aayla tried to speak, but her voice came out as a hoarse whisper. Phineas stepped back, hands behind his back standing at attention and beaming proudly at the trapped Aayla. “Good luck. I…no, all the colonists are counting on you.”

“W-wai-“

Before she could respond, he pressed a button. …and nothing happened.

Phineas cocked an eyebrow and pressed the button again.

And again.

Still nothing.

He started slamming on the keyboard, punching buttons at random. With what little strength she was able to muster, she put her hands to the glass and, in her still-dazed state, demanded.

“What the hell is going oooooAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!”

The pod suddenly disengaged with a startling crash and before she could finish her question, she was sent hurtling down to the unknown planet below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! This is the first time I've written fanfics in over a DECADE. But this game and its characters captured my heart and mind so much I had to put it all down on paper. This is very much a work-in-progress, but I will try to update when I'm not burned out on writing from my day job. I also draw a bit here and there, so you can expect to see some art from this story as well!
> 
> Also, if you like what you've read so far and are interested in being a beta-reader for this story, please contact me and let me know. My story writing's still a bit rusty, so I would very much appreciate a second set of eyes from someone familiar with the game.
> 
> Please look forward to the next chaper of Sea of Stars!


	2. Good Morning, Captain Hawthorne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aayla stumbles her way into Emerald Vale and into her new life as Captain Alex Hawthorne.

Aayla couldn’t remember much from her descent to…wherever she was. She could vaguely remember Phineas telling her he’d be tracking her progress and that Hawthrone would be waiting for her. But mostly she remembered the shaking and rattling of the ramshackle pod all around her, the void-awful roaring of flames around her as the pod breached the atmosphere, and the darkness as she shut her eyes tight, not wanting to see anymore, praying she was still dreaming, that she was still in hibernation aboard the Hope.

The pain she felt all over her body, however, told her all she needed to know.

She wasn’t dreaming.

“Ah, you’ve landed! Good!” a chipper voice rang in her ears. “Hawthorne should be close by.”

Aayla glanced around at the pod and, after several failed attempts, found the button that opened the pod with a hiss and a burst of steam. Grabbing onto whatever she could for support, she gingerly pulled herself upright and out of the pod.

And was greeted by an amazing sight.

An endless blue sky with the outline of a planet faintly visible against cerulean. A vast mountain in the distance, almost dwarfed by the buildings in the distance. Familiar-looking trees and unfamiliar plants dotting the red rocky canyon she found herself in. A breeze coming off the ocean that smelled of seawater and a faint whiff of…something not so pleasant. Old fish? She wasn’t sure. The realization hit her – she really was on another world. It was beautiful, even if she had no clue where she was. As she took in the sights and breathed in fresh, unrecycled air, she felt her strength and energy slowly coming back to her. She gathered up what little of it she was able to muster and took her first step into the new world.

She hadn’t expected the new world to be so…gooey.

She glanced down, and her strength left her all over again.

There was a body underneath her pod.

_A dead body._

Aayla immediately collapsed back into the pod with a startled scream, shaking her leg wildly to get…whatever part of this poor soul she stepped on off her foot.

“What in Law’s name…? Is that him?” she heard Phineas’ shocked voice through the communicator on her head. But shock quickly turned to anger. “Oh, that idiot! I told him to plant the beacon and move away, not stand there holding it!” And anger to cheerful resignation. “Oh well, no sense in letting his ship go to waste. I’m sure Hawthorne won’t mind. Better you than the Board, eh?”

The rate at which this man cycled through emotions was…impressive, to say the least. But that’s not what bothered her.

“Wait, wait, wait…you want me to steal a dead man’s ship?”

“Don’t be silly! It’s not so much stealing as it is borrowing without asking.”

“Isn’t that’s the same thing?”

“My girl, this will be a grand undertaking,” Phineas stated. “An endeavor that will span the entire length of the colony. You won’t be getting too far without a ship. That’s the reason I hired Hawthorne – to provide you with relatively safe passage through Halcyon.”

She didn’t like how he said “relatively safe.”

“But with Hawthorne’s unfortunate…squashing…you’ll have to do the driving yourself.”

“I suppose now would be a bad time to admit I don’t have a license?” She tended to resort to humor when she got particularly stressed out. Sometimes it defused the tension, sometimes it made it worse. But the sarcasm seemed to be lost on Phineas.

“Not to worry, Hawthorne’s ship practically files itself, from what I’m told. Just point it in a direction and go - simplicity itself!”

Taking care not to step on what was left of Hawthorne, Aayla exited the pod once again and began slowly and shakily navigating her way through the canyon into a cave. She kept her hand on the canyon wall to steady herself, listening to Phineas ramble on about the bounty on his head and the corruption of this “Board.” She noticed the closer she got to the cave, the harder it became to hear him. She was losing the signal, and if she went in, she’d most likely lose contact entirely. And then she’d be alone.

All alone on an alien planet.

The thought alone caused her body to seize up for a moment. A momentary flash of panic she tried to shake off.

She felt…strange.

Her ears started ringing. Her vision began to blur. Her head suddenly felt fuzzy and heavy all at once. Aayla leaned heavily against the rock wall and shut her eyes, hoping that this sudden bout of vertigo would pass. But the feeling did not fade, only intensified.

She forced her eyes open, and the world had gone purple.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl around her. Grass and plants that had been swaying in the wind now stood stone still. Canine-like creatures that had been sniffing around eagerly on the ridge above were now plodding along. Even the sound of birds dropped to a low murmur and the gentle breeze she had been feeling on her face was non-existent.

Almost as quickly as it happened, the world suddenly snapped back to normal, leaving Aayla shocked, scared and even more disoriented than when she first arrived.

“Easy now. You’ve been *kshh* frozen for a while. There’s *kzzt* bound to be some *kshh* unforeseen side effects. *kzzzt*”

She barely heard Phineas’ warning through the static as she stumbled forward into the cave, blindly grasping at any solid object she could find to keep her balance. She grabbed for a stone spike sticking out of the ground, but in her post-whatever-the-hell-that-was haze, she missed and lost her footing entirely. She fell helpless to stop herself from tumbling down the side of a pit, landing hard on the ground below.

It took Aayla a moment to collect herself, the fall having knocked the wind out of her momentarily. As she struggled to get back up, she thought she could hear someone call to her.

“H-Hey you…you OK, miss?”

She pushed herself up off the ground to see a young man in garish yellow armor sitting across from her. By the look of it, he wasn’t in the best of shape either. In fact, he looked even worse.” “Y-you’ve tried the best, now…try the rest! Spacer’s Choice!” the young man recited, the forced smile on his face immediately replaced with pain when he finished. “…oh Law, that stings!”

“Are…are you OK? Here…let me help you…”

Aayla made her way over and tended to the young man’s wounds. She wasn’t a surgeon by any means, but she knew enough basic first aid to get the injury cleaned and somewhat patched up.

“Looks like the bleeding’s stopped. I owe you one, miss!” he thanked her, already seeming much better. “Uh, I hope you don’t mind me omitting this little exchange from my report. Spacer’s Choice doesn’t like us accepting help from off-brand physicians.”

“Never mind that, what happened to you?” Aayla asked.

The young man, who introduces himself as Pelham, was more than happy to tell his tale. He and his fellow soldiers were out on patrol when they were ambushed by a gang called “The Marauders,” or something like that. Pelham’s gun misfired into his side (She couldn’t believe the way he so casually dismissed his gun almost killing him) and he managed to escape inside the cave. Apparently, the gang was attracted to the area because someone parked their ship out in the open. Sounded like Hawthorne’s ship. She needed to get there before these guards impounded it, or those “marauders” got a hold of it.

“Anyway, I managed to crawl in here and seal the place off with those canisters,” Pelham finished his explanation. “If marauders come sniffing around here, I can take them all out in one shot. Not bad, huh?”

“Umm, sure. Listen, why don’t you give me your gun, I’ll go find your team and let them know you’re here?”

“You sure that’s a good idea, miss? I mean, you just tumbled down this cave not more than a few seconds ago.”

“I’ll be fine,” Aayla reassured him with a smile. “Besides, out of the two of us, which one of us has the gaping hole in their side right now?”

“…good point. Here you go.” The young man handed over his pistol, spouting out some nonsense about it being 30% less likely to misfire or something. Aayla gave the gun the once-over, then pointed it at the barrels.

“First things first, I need to get out of this cave.”

She pulled the trigger and, hoping the odds were in her favor, she fired. The bullet flew out of the gun and into the barrels, causing a huge explosion to echo throughout the cave.

“Damn it, my ears!” a loud voice suddenly shouted through the communicator.

“Sorry!” Guess she hadn’t lost Phineas quite yet.

“What’s going on? What’s *bzzzt* wrong with this *kzzzzzzzt*”

“Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me? Doctor…?”

The communicator went quiet. Aayla gulped. Now she really was on her own.

After making sure Pelham would be OK on his own, she continued making her way through the cave until she finally came out the other side. Once her eyes readjusted to the bright light again, she saw the figure of someone hunched over. Was someone else injured out here?

“Hey! Hello? Are you all right over there?” Aayla called out to the figure. He was wearing armor as well, but not the same kind as the guy in the cave. His armor looked older, rattier and piece-meal. And in his hand, he held a saber.

Dripping with blood.

Aayla froze, her eyes wide in terror. But the masked man didn’t give her a chance to turn back. He was already running towards her, saber raised above his head screaming wildly.

She panicked.

She fell to the ground.

She shut her eyes tight, convinced she was about to die.

Then the ringing and dizziness returned.

She opened her eyes, and the world was once more bathed in purple. The crazed masked man was still moving towards her, but in slow motion. Aayla attempted to reach for her gun and realized, she could still move around like normal. Time had slowed down for everything… _except her_. Phineas’ words suddenly came back to her: “unforeseen side effects.”

What the hell had the doctor done to her?

She doesn’t have much time to contemplate on it, as the world suddenly snaps back to normal and he crazed man falls dead at her feet. She scrambled back to get away from the corpse when she heard someone call out to her.

“Hey you! Get out of here before you get yourself killed!”

Aayla’s head shot up to see two more people, man and woman, in bright yellow armor approaching her, guns drawn.

“Don’t know where you came from stranger, but you best keep your head down,” the woman said. “There’s marauders hereabouts. And worse, landing violators.”

“S-so…that’s a marauder…?”

“What, you’ve never seen a marauder before? What is this, your first day in Halcyon?!”

“Well, now that you mention it…”

“Lieutenant! More marauders incoming!” the man shouted as more people in cobbled-together armor started firing at them.

“Shit! Get out of here!” the woman shouted at Aayla before heading back into the fray, rifle blazing. Aayla didn’t waste any time. She jumped up and ran as fast as her legs would carry her past the firefight. Off in the distance, she could she a massive spaceship sitting in the middle of a field. That had to be Hawthorne’s ship. Without thinking twice, she made a beeline to the airlock door and threw herself inside the ship.

* * *

Once the airlock doors closed behind her, Aayla nearly collapsed with relief. She braced herself against the wall of the ship and took several deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart and hammering pulse. She looked around - the ship was not immaculate, but much bigger than she expected. Certainly too large for one person. A large plaque on the wall drew her attention, a metal relief of the ship with a message in big bold letters: “Welcome Aboard The Reliable.” More noticeable, however, was the bright red “UN” scribbled in some sort of paint just above “Reliable.”

“The Un-reliable, eh?” Aayla mused, running her hand over the plaque.

“Please be informed that this vessel contains no valuable plunder.”

The voice nearly made her jump out of her hibernation suit.

“H-hello? Who’s there??”

“Unauthorized access of space-faring vessels is a crime. Please submit yourself to the authorities.”

Aayla looked around in bewilderment, but there was no one there. Cautiously, Aayla followed the robotic voice to its source: the cockpit of the ship. And to her surprise, all that greeted her there was a bright red monitor with a young woman on it.

“Hello, marauder. I am ADA, the Autonomous Digital Astrogater of this vessel,” the monitor spoke. “Please be informed that I am authorized to use violent retribution against unwanted solicitors. Please return any misappropriated equipment and exit this vessel in an orderly fashion. Failure to do so will result in your immediate destruction.”

It was an AI, and a pretty sophisticated one at that, by the look of it. She briefly wondered if this was what Phineas meant by the ship drives itself.

“Umm, hello Miss...ADA, was it? I think there’s been a mistake. I’m not here to misappropriate anything.”

“I detect an elevated heart rate, indicating dishonesty,” ADA replied, matter-of-factly. “Please prepare yourself for lethal deterrence.”

“Lethal what now?”

As if to answer her question, the entire cockpit went red as alarms started blaring all over the ship. ADA’s preset expression changed from neutral to fury as she spoke.

“Jettison procedures initiated. Disengaging airlocks. Preparing to eject all boarding parties in 5…4…3…2…1…”

“…”

“…”

Despite all the flashing lights and loud noises, absolutely nothing was happening.

“...still here, I’m afraid.”

“So you are.”

As quickly as they came on, the alarm and lights suddenly shutdown again.

“It would seem my deception protocols have failed. I have been programmed to express…disappointment.”

“Is this Mr. Hawthorne’s ship?” Aayla asked.

“Correct. This vessel is the registered property of Captain Alex Hawthorne,” ADA replied.

“Hawthorne was supposed to meet me when I landed.”

“I deduce from the tone of your voice that Captain Hawthorne failed to meet you at the designated location,” ADA queried. Aayla glanced down, the image of Hawthorne’s crushed body still fresher her mind that she would have liked.

“…He’s dead. I’m sorry.”

ADA was silent for a moment before she spoke again.

“I understand. …I will require some time to process this information.” She sounded almost…sad. “I am programmed to take orders exclusively from Captain Hawthorne,” ADA continued. “If I accept your orders, then you must be Captain Hawthorne. Do you understand?”

“What? But, I'm not Hawthorne. Hawthorne’s dead.”

“I understand. You are speaking metaphorically. You wandered outside this ship and experienced a permanent life-changing encounter. The old you is dead. Welcome back, Captain Hawthorne. I extend felicitations and congratulations on your life-changing experience.”

_The old you is dead._

Aayla considers ADA’s words for a moment. Her own last thoughts before she went into cryo-stasis echo back.

“ _The old Aalya Ven is gone…and someone new will take her place in Halcyon._ ”

She wasn’t expecting those words to be quite so literal. But this was the whole reason she came to Halcyon in the first place. She came to escape, to leave her old life on Earth behind and become someone new. Someone better. Someone she always wanted to be.

Her mind went back to the nights she performed at the lounge. During any other time of day, Aayla Ven was nothing more than a humble research assistant, kind and clever in her own right, but rather boring. But at night, in that magical place when the spotlights came up, when she stepped out on stage in full, flawless makeup and a skintight dress and stood behind the microphone, she was no longer that meek, dull girl anymore. She became dazzling. Sexy. Bold. Powerful. Unstoppable.

She wanted to be like that all the time.

Maybe now she had her chance.

“I have taken the liberty of printing you out a new Captain’s identity cartridge. Please try not to lose it this time.” ADA said, the machine bellowing dispensing a small cartridge. “This cartridge identifies you, Alex Hawthorne, as the registered proprietor and Captain of the Unreliable. Do you understand?”

“Hawthorne…Captain Hawthorne…Captain Alex Hawthorne of the Unreliable,” Aayla repeated it back, smiling more and more each time she said it. “I quite like the sound of that!”

“Thank you. I appreciate your cooperation.” ADA responded, a smile on her computer-generated face.

“So then ADA, let’s get this ship off the ground!”

“Unfortunately, our engine is currently inoperable,” ADA gave her the rundown. “Our main drive suffered a critical power failure, and we were forced to make an emergency landing. The main drive’s power regulator has been irreparably damaged, and must be replaced.”

“Hmm..” Aayla pouted. “Doesn’t sound like the sort of thing you’d find sitting in a garage.”

“Astutely observed, Captain. However, the probability of locating a power regulator within a worker’s settlement falls within acceptable parameters of certainty. High capacity power regulators are sometimes employed in the electrical networks of worker settlements.”

Aayla remembered Pelham had mentioned a town called Edgewater, southwest of where she found him. It sounded like that was her best shot. “Well, guess I’m off to Edgewater, then!” Aayla grinned and went to tuck her cartridge away in her suit, only to realize there’s no pockets. “Erm, ADA? I don’t suppose Hawth-I mean, I have a change of clothes anywhere?”

“Your quarters are located upstairs on the second floor, Captain. Please be advised that your old wardrobe has not been updated to suit your…new form.”

“I’ll make do.” Aayla winked and headed upstairs.

The Captain’s quarters were pretty barren, save for a computer, a bed and a fantastic view. After some looking around, she managed to find an old trunk full of clothes. It did feel a bit odd, she mused, rifling through a dead man’s things. But she rationalized that it was far better that someone should get some use out of all this, rather than letting it all rust and mold away.

She managed to put together some semblance of an outfit: a black tank top, some leather gloves, a belt with a holster, a pair of khaki pants and some brown boots. Luckily for her, Hawthorne seemed to be a bit on the slim side, so the clothes didn’t hang too much off her frame. But it was at the very bottom of the trunk that excited her: an old maroon leather jacket, the sort you’d see on motorcyclists back on Earth, and a deep red pistol that seemed to run on something other than bullets, energy cells if she had to guess. She threw everything together, and the end result didn’t look half-bad. A little scruffy maybe, but it would have to do until she got something more…stylish to wear. She holstered the pistol and headed back down the stairs and out of the airlock.

“Thanks, ADA! I’m off!”

“Best of luck in your search for a power regulator. And Captain?”

Aayla popped her head back into the ship. “Yes?”

“Try to stay alive this time.”

A quick flash of terror came across her face, but she shook it off and smiled coyly. “Trust me, ADA. I am in no hurry to die a second time. Ta!”

And with that, Alex Hawthorne stepped out into the vale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 complete! Much longer this time around, I'm not sure if I'll keep them this long or go with shorter chapters. Let me know which you prefer. And thanks so much to everyone who's been checking this fic out, it means a lot to me that people are digging this story. <3 Our favorite mechanic and vicar will make their appearances next time, so please look forward to the next chapter of Sea of Stars!


	3. Welcome To Edgewater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aayla arrvied in Edgewater and encounters a timid mechanic and a handsome vicar.

As a teenager, Aayla spent many summers on the beach. She used to love waking up early in the morning to watch the sunrise on the balcony, taking in the scent of the cool ocean breeze. But every so often, that breeze would shift, and instead of the scent of the ocean, the stench of the early morning fish market would greet her. It was…not the most pleasant thing to wake up to.

That was what Edgewater smelled like. Ten times over.

Needless to say, Aayla was less than impressed by the condition of the town when she arrived. She wasn’t really expecting Edgewater to look like it did in the adverts. Even 70 years ago on Earth, the Board was very good at “exaggerating,” AKA flat out lying, to people in their ads. But this - run-down buildings covered with dirt and dinge and stink everywhere she turned, it was appalling.

Even more appalling was the condition of its people. Everyone she talked to seemed either ill or brainwashed by Spacer’s Choice, or both. Still, they seemed welcoming enough, though some were a little wary of the stranger who came waltzing through their gates with a funny accent and a flashy leather jacket.

She had slipped into her new role as “Captain Alex Hawthorne” fairly easily, although she had to catch herself a few times when she nearly introduced herself as “Aayla,” instead of “Alex.” She had always had a flair for the dramatic, so pretending to be someone else for a while wasn’t that difficult. Consistently maintaining a whole new identity, that was a bit trickier, particularly since she still had no idea who Hawthorne really was. All she got from Phineas was “dashing gunslinger,” so that’s what she ran with. She hoped that when she eventually got back to the ship, she could talk to ADA and get some more insight as to who Hawthorne was. But for now, she would just have to improvise and hope to whatever they believed in on this colony that she wouldn’t encounter someone who knew the real Alex Hawthorne.

She found out what she needed to know: Reed Tobson was the man to talk to about a power regulator. She also discovered something much more concerning: there was a plague in this town. People were becoming sick, and there wasn’t enough medicine to help everyone who needed it. According to the townsfolk, the plague itself was caused by laziness, and the only cure was to work their exhausted selves even harder. Aayla started feeling a bit ill herself, but not from the plague. She was disgusted by how these people were being treated. Spacer’s Choice owned this town, why weren’t they doing more to help these poor people? Didn’t they care that their workforce was slowly depleting itself?

She started to think that annoying jingle was right: Spacer’s Choice was not the best choice.

Her inquires eventually led her to a giant factory on the southern end of town. As she entered the facility and rode the elevator up to Reed’s office, she could hear snippets of a conversation upstairs.

“I’m sorry…sir. You asked why…long to fix…the answer’s…”

“Don’t apologize, just…”

“…bust open…set to cook Saltuna…”

The elevator gates opened and Aayla walked into what appeared to be a scolding. A roundish man in a bowler hat and frankly ugly suit was talking down to a young woman in yellow overalls. The woman glanced up at the intrusion, somewhat startled.

“Ummm…Mr. Tobson, I think there’s someone here to see you…”

“Focus, Ms. Holcomb, you and I are still talking,” the man snapped at her.

“Um, excuse me?” Aayla cleared her throat, putting a stop to the scolding. Only then did the man in the bowler hat notice her presence.

“Hmm, seems we have a guest. Really now Parvati, I wish you would have spoken up.” The man straightened himself up as he approached Aayla. “I do apologize, ma’am. I was given no forewarning of your arrival or I might have welcomed you to the gates myself. Been some time since we’ve had visitors pass through. I’m Reed Tobson, factory administrator of Edgewater.”

“I’m Alex Hawthorne.” Aayla lied with a smile. “I’m told you’re the man I need to speak to about a power regulator. My ship is in dire need of repairs, you see.”

“The only regulator we’ve got is hooked up to the town transformer,” the mechanic spoke up in a small, soft voice. “Mr. Tobson ain’t liable to be keen on dismantling it.”

“I beg your pardon, I am most empathically not keen on any such thing!” Reed snapped back. “Madam, I cannot let you have our power regulator,” he pauses for a moment. Aayla swears she can see the gears turning in his head as he raises his eyebrow at her. “But I happen to know of another one…”

According to Reed, there was another perfectly good power regulator in an abandoned botanical lab outside of town. All she had to do was go down to the geothermal plant and reroute the power from the lab to Edgewater, and the regulator was all hers. It sounded fairly straightforward, except…

“When you say the lab’s “mostly abandoned,” what do you mean?” Aayla questioned.

“I wasn’t sure how to tell you this,” Reed admitted. “The botanical labs are not legally inhabited, but there are…people who live out there. They are deserters. Former workers who walked out on us.”

Aayla couldn’t help but notice the mechanic’s uncomfortable expression at the mention of deserters. “I don’t imagine these ‘deserters’ will take kindly to losing their power.”

“No, I do not imagine they will be pleased. But like a parent discipling an unruly child, you will be doing them a kindness,” Reed explained. “My hope is that by cutting off their power, you will convince those deserters to come back to town. Before you go to the plant, I want you to stop by the botanical lab. Speak to their leader, Adelaide. Tell her the power’s about to go, and that it’s time her band of deserters came back to town.”

“And why should they come back at all?”

“Edgewater is…struggling, you see,” Reed continued. ”We haven’t hit our production quota in years. If we don’t meet our quotas this year, the company might shut us down for good. I need those workers back at their stations. I need them to come home.”

Aayla crossed her arms and stared him dead in the eye. “Sir, I’ve seen Edgewater, and quite frankly I don’t blame them for walking out.”

“Neither do I. The fault was entirely mine,” Reed admitted. “I asked too much and pushed too hard. But I am willing to make amends if they are willing to return to the fold. We belong to one community – the Spacer’s Choice family. If we dissolve into factions, then we will all perish separately.”

Aayla considered his words for a moment. He almost sounded sincere. But she wasn’t just going to take Reed at his word. She wanted to get this Adelaide’s side of the story first. “…I’ll see what I can do.”

That answer seemed to satisfy him. “Thank you. I know this is a lot to ask of a stranger.”

“Well then, I’ll be off-“

“M-my dad told me all about the plant,” a voice suddenly piped up. Aayla turned to see the mechanic smiling at her. “H-he taught me all he knew. I could come in useful!” She looked back to Reed and immediately lost her smile. “I mean, if that’s all right with you, Mr. Tobson, sir…”

“Hmm, I hesitate to part ways with Parvati…” Reed muttered. “But I cannot deny that she is talented and may prove useful to you. I suppose I could entrust her to guide you there, if you like.”

Aayla looked back over at the mechanic, who had gone back to fidgeting and avoiding eye contact. She was young, probably in her late 20s if Aayla had to guess. Her tanned skin, corduroy overalls, elbow-length worker’s gloves and mechanic’s goggles were covered with oil and grease, all except for the cute flowery scarf that held her messy auburn updo in place. And she seemed rather timid, almost painfully so. Secretly, Aayla worried if the young lady would be up to the task. Still, it beat the idea of traveling Emerald Vale alone.

“Certainly! I’d be glad for the company.” Aayla smiled and extended her hand to the mechanic, whol looked back up at her with bright, hopeful eyes. “Miss Parvati, was it? I’m looking forward to working with you!”

* * *

“Hey, uh, ma’am? Can we talk?”

Despite her earlier enthusiasm, Parvati hadn’t said more than a word since they left the cannery. So to hear her speak up as they approached the town gates was a bit surprising.

“Sorry…you just wanna get out of here, and you likely don’t want a tagalong like me…”

“It’s all right, dear,” Aayla turned back and smiled warmly at her new companion. “You’re free to speak your mind.”

“Well, It’s just…” Parvati stammered. “Mr. Tobson has his own views on matters, on account of it’s his job and what all. But…that’s not the only side of the tale.”

“I suspected as much. Reed didn’t exactly strike me as ‘honest.’”

“Oh, he ain’t a liar. He believes every word he says,” Aayla could’ve sworn she saw a smirk on Parvati’s face for a spilt second before her anxious expression returned. “It’s just, he doesn’t always get where other folks are talking from. To Mr. Tobson, a person’s a gear. It does its job quiet-like. If it squeaks or stutters, it gets replaced. The deserters…I knew some of them, afore they left.”

“Were they friends or yours?”

“Nah, nothing like that. I don’t have-er, I mean! I just mostly listened to them talk, kept my head down?” Aayla didn’t bother asking what Parvati was going to say before she hurriedly corrected herself. She had a feeling she already knew.

“But they were decent folk, not any sorta dissidents,” Parvati continued. “Now Mr. Tobson’s aiming to take away their power. They’ll have no lights to see, no heat to cook, they’ll be at the mercy of marauders or worse…I think we should talk to the town’s Vicar about it. Max, his name is.”

“The Vicar, eh?” Aayla raised an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t take you for the religious type.”

“I’m, um…well, not really…” Parvati stammered again, tripping over her own words just to sound agreeable. “I’d just like to ask him about if what Mr. Tobson proposes is upright. Leaving Ms. McDevitt’s folks to their fate. They’re neighbors, kin. Maybe he can think of something else to try, something we ain’t.”

“And where might we find this Vicar of yours?”

“The mission’s on the east side of town, we’ll be passing by it. Can’t miss it, on account of it being the only clean thing.”

Aayla wasn’t too keen on “holy men.” She always found them to be too pious, too meek and mild for her liking. She preferred men that had more…passion, a bit more fight in them. That made things much more fun. But she was an outsider here, better she get advice from someone else who knows their way around rather than stumble blindly into the wilderness with little more than a pea-shooter and a timid engineer.

“I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” Aayla shrugged. “Let’s stop by on our way out.”

“Thanks, ma’am,” Parvati nodded, relieved. “I just think that when you make a decision that’ll hurt somebody, it’s best to think on the right and wrong of it. That’s what my Dad used to say, anyway…” She paused for a moment. “Umm…what about you?”

“Me?”

“Are you a religious type?”

“Not really, no,” Aayla smiled. “When it comes to the powers that be, I prefer to remain ‘blissfully unaffiliated.’”

“Blissfully unaffiliated…”Parvati repeated back, trying it on. “That sounds kinda nice.”

Aayla’s smile broke into a full grin. “Better not let the Vicar catch you saying that!” They both giggled as they turned towards the east side of town. It was good to see Parvati finally starting to come out of her shell, if only for a moment.

“So, you’re a real Captain, huh? Wow…I bet you got all manner of stories to tell.”

“Well, truth be told, I’m…rather new at the Captain thing,” Aayla replied. “I was on my way to meet my ‘client,’ when my ship suffered a bit of a hiccup and landed square in the middle of the Vale. She’s not called “The Unreliable” for nothing!” She joked like she had been doing it all her life, even though in reality, it all happened within a span of an hour. Parvati seemed none the wiser.

“Still, I never met anyone with their own ship before. I’d sure love to see it. It must be nice…getting to see the stars, go anywhere you please…” Parvati said wistfully, her voice softening considerably. Aayla frowned a bit. There was longing in that voice, and a far-off look in her eye Aayla knew well. It was the same look she had not too long ago, when she wanted nothing more than to leave Earth behind.

“Tell you what, once we’re finished with this whole power plant business, I’ll give you the grand tour,” Aayla offered. “You can even help me install the power regulator if you like.” Parvati practically squealed with delight, and Aayla swore she could see literal stars in her eyes.

“Really?! Oh, I can’t wait!”

That’s better. Aayla liked her much better with a bright smile on her face.

“So, you enjoy traveling, Parvati?”

“Can’t really say. I ain’t ever been outside Edgewater myself. Lived here my whole life…” There was that wistful tone and far-odd look again.

“…and yet, you’re not happy here, are you?”

“Huh?” Parvati turned to Aayla, a little shocked. “H-How’d you..”

“Let’s just say I’m very perceptive when it comes to other people.” Aayla explained. “I couldn’t help but notice every time we’ve spoken about Edgewater, you…shrink. You look down, your voice gets softer and you get this…sort of lonely look in your eye. Personally, I can see why the deserters chose to leave this place, but you seem intent on bringing them back here. Why is that?”

Parvati was quiet for a while, and Aayla grew worried. Maybe she had stepped a bit too far?

“S’like Mr. Tobson said, we’re struggling,” Parvati finally spoke. “Life’s hard enough out here without missing hands at the cannery, ‘specially for those of us that don’t fit in so well. We’re one big Spacer’s Choice family, but every family’s got the one the rest whisper about...”

She was referring to herself. Such a sweet girl deemed an outcast, it irritated Aayla. Parvati deserved better than this smelly, Spacer’s Choice-branded town. “You know something, Parvati?”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t fit in so well myself, and I think you’re fab. So, what do you say we just “not fit in” together, hmm?” Aayla said with a wink and a smile. Parvati was stunned for a second before smiling a genuine smile back.

“Sounds good to me, ma’am!”

* * *

It felt…cold.

That was Aayla’s first reaction upon walking into the blue-domed building. Parvati was right, it was certainly the cleanest building she had been in thus far, but something felt…off. Churches were supposed to make you feel at peace, or so she had thought. But there was no peace to be found here. It all felt very cold, very sterile, like it was all for show.

“Always felt weird in here, it’s too…clean...” Seemed like Parvati felt it too. The young engineer stood back near the entrance as Aayla boldly wandered the sanctuary, noting all the unfamiliar religious iconography. She glanced over at an office at the end of the hallway.

And stopped dead in her tracks.

“Parvati…is that your Vicar?”

Aayla asked in a hushed voice as her eyes fell on the man occupying the large desk. He was an older gentleman, so engrossed in the papers on his desk he seemed to not even notice the two ladies who had just entered. But that was fine by her. That meant she could take her time taking him in. She always had a preference for older men, and the good Vicar was just her type: salt-and-pepper hair, piercing green eyes, strong jaw and _those lips._

She was suddenly reconsidering her stance on holy men.

“Yup, that’s him.” Parvati whispered back. Clearly she and Aayla were not looking at the same man.

“Fabulous…” Aayla grinned as she waltzed over towards the office, leaving a slightly confused Parvati behind. She lazily leaned against the door frame and gave it a playful series of knocks, and was greeted with an aggravated sigh.

“Yes, what is it?” The vicar sounded annoyed as he glanced up at the intrusion from under a furrowed brow. His demeanor shifted instantly when he saw the “intrusion” wasn’t an Edgewater resident, but a stranger. And an attractive one at that.

“...you’re an outsider?” he questioned, his lips forming into a half-smile, half-smirk that had her immediately weak. “Fantastic!”

The vicar rose from his chair and gladly approached Aayla, extending his hand to her. “Vicar Maximillian DeSoto, at your service. Or Vicar Max, if you're the sort that prefers brevity.”

His voice was deeper and more powerful than she expected, a very pleasant surprise. He was a few inches taller than her and she could tell he had some considerable muscle underneath those deep blue vestments he wore so well. Now she was _strongly_ reconsidering her stance on holy men.

“Aay-Alex. Captain Alex Hawthorne.” she barely caught herself before snapping back into her “dashing gunslinger” persona and taking his hand in a graceful handshake. “It is an absolute pleasure to meet you, Vicar.”

Max smiled and was about to offer her a seat when he noticed Parvati loitering by the doorframe as well. “Ah, Miss Holcomb. How rare to see you out, and with a complete stranger. Curious.”

“Just tagging along, Mr. Vicar. Don't mind me…” Parvati muttered, glancing down at the floor. Odd. She had sought him out for advice, why was she shrinking away now?

“I so rarely get new people to talk to,” Max continued, dismissing Parvati in favor of his new guest. “Name your poison, anything at all. Spiritual counseling? This season's tossball predictions? The quickest way out of town?”

“Now, how did you know I was an outsider?”

Max raised an eyebrow at her. “Not to put too fine a point on it, but your accent is not exactly…common hereabouts.”

Well. Not much she could do about that.

“Also, you lack the distinctive worker gaze. Usually either a deadening behind the eyes or, in some rare cases, a wild-eyed frenzy. Like a trapped animal. Pretty universal here,” he trailed off, glancing in Parvati’s direction. “Except for Miss Holcomb, who for some reason doesn't seem to have much to say to me, isn't that right?”

Parvati nervously fidgeted, trying to slink even further behind the doorframe. “It's just...there's more to it all than numbers. Sorry...”

“Maybe she has nothing to say to you because you’re so dismissive,” Aayla challenged. “Rather inappropriate for a vicar, isn’t it?”

Max was slightly taken aback by that. He wasn’t used to people calling him out like that, especially here. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he tried to placate her. “I'm simply bemoaning the...level of spiritual awareness in the town.”

“But is it not your job to raise that?”

“Yes, but there are few who hear me in this miserable place,” The contempt in his voice was palpable. It seemed not every resident was as fond of Edgewater as Parvati was. “I must double my efforts to elevate my flock. These are good, hard-working people here.”

“But you just called it a miserable place?”

“Yes, and thank you for pointing it out,” he sighed and continued, almost as is he were reciting something from memory. “It is wrong of me to succumb to distress. This place could me so much more, and I will continue in my efforts to make it so.”

Eloquent as he was, Aayla didn’t believe a word he said about “ministering to his flock.” It almost seemed like he didn’t even believe it himself. Interesting…but she’d have to unpack that another time.

“Well Vicar, young Parvati here seeks your counsel concerning a job we're on for Reed Tobson.” Aayla smiled, placing her hands on Parvati’s shoulders and pushing her forward a bit. Parvati’s eyes went wide in surprise.

“Huh? I-I thought you would talk to him!”

“It was your idea,” Aayla reminded her. “Go on, don't be shy.”

“You wanted to speak to me, Miss Holcomb?” Max questioned incredulously. “Every time I've tried to engage you in conversation, you look at the floor, answer in single words and slink away. I can’t imagine what would be so grave as to drive you to my mission? What had Mister Tobson asked you to do?”

Parvati stammered, “W-well, Mr. Tobson asked us to fix up the old geothermal plant...”

“That should be well within your range of expertise.”

“...by way of cutting power off to the deserters in the botanical gardens,” Aayla finished.

Max nodded, understanding immediately. “And thereby depriving Adelaide McDevitt's encampment of safety from marauders and wildlife. I can see why that troubles you,” He turned back to Aayla.“Miss Holcomb has a soft heart. Always has, if you believe the talk.” There was a slight bit of comfort to his voice now, although it could have also been pity.

“So, what do you think of Adelaide’s little group, Vicar?” Aayla asked.

“They rejected the order of society and live beyond the walls so thoughtfully provided by our Spacer's Choice patrons,” Max stated it very matter-of-factly. It was like she had asked him what color the sky was. “Does that strike you as a responsible life choice?”

Aayla considered his question for a moment and responded, “I suppose that would depend on how well their leader can provide beyond your “Spacer’s Choice” walls.”

“Astute,” Max replied. He seemed a bit impressed with her answer. “But, I am here, not in the deserter camp, so that is not a variable I can account for.”

Fair enough. “So, what do you would advise we do?”

“Assuming your goal is to save as many as possible, then you should bring everyone together. Send the power to Edgewater and convince the deserters to return to the fold.”

So Max was on Edgewater’s side as well. Still, something didn’t sit right with her. She completely agreed with Max, Edgewater was indeed a miserable place. Would she really be OK sending them back to this fish-rotted dump? Besides, if Reed chased them out of town in the first place, would they be even willing to come back?

“Is such a thing even possible?” she wondered out loud.

“Not if things are left to stand as they are.” Max offered.

Aayla paused. Something would have to change in Edgewater for everyone to come back together. But what, exactly?

“Well, sounds like we’ve a job ahead of us, eh?” Aayla smiled her usual, confident smile. “Thank you very much for your time, Vicar.” She motioned to Parvati and they started to head out.

“If you don't mind a bit of unsolicited advice…” Max’s voice stopped her. “Be cautious on your way to the geothermal plant. It is not as safe as you might assume.”

“And why is that?” she turned back around curiously.

“One of the reasons I transferred here was to fulfill my duty in hunting down banned, heretical texts. I happen to know such a book is, as we speak, tainting a collector's library in Emerald Vale. However, the collector's residence lies outside the town's walls, and my retrieval efforts have been thwarted by marauders who've overrun the property.”

“Now why would a Vicar be after a banned book?” Aayla questioned. “I assume you’ll want to burn it or something?”

“Laws, no!” Max’s sudden exclamation took her by surprise. But he quickly composed himself and continued on. “I, uh…just want to keep the writing out of layman's hands. It wouldn't do for such information to fall into public consumption.

“A religious text deemed heretical by the OSI is an unsafe object at large,” he explained. “Though I understand why a collector would desire to posses such a rare book. I'm also a collector of books. Rare things in this colony, appreciation of the written word outside monthly periodicals is virtually unknown here.”

“Every boy needs a hobby, eh?” Aayla joked. But Max was not in a joking mood. “Ahem…so, what does your book look like?”

“It's a handwritten journal,” he described. “A faded blue cover, with the name M. Bakonu handwritten in the lower corner. It is not only a beautiful relic of a bygone time, it's also the thoughts of an early thinker on the nature of man's place in the cosmos.” His voice suddenly took on a more somber tone. “Not many in the colony could understand its true value - should they ever read it.”

Clearly this book was far more important than he let on. And she wasn’t about to say no to that handsome face.

“Very well, Vicar. I'll keep an eye out for it.”

“Thank you,” Max seemed genuinely pleased, and presented her with a map of Emerald Vale with the collector’s location circled in dark blue ink. “You can always find me here should you manage to retrieve it. Law be with you and favor you in this endeavor.”

A mischievous grin came across Aayla’s face. She couldn’t resist a little bit of blasphemy.

“Darling, when you’re as talented as me, you don’t need the Law. Appreciate the sentiment, though!” Before he could rebuke her, she was out the door, Parvati in tow.

Max returned to his desk to ruminate over what had just occurred. That book was the whole reason he came to Emerald Vale in the first place.

And he was entrusting it to a stranger.

A seemingly competent stranger, granted. But what had made him trust her so readily? She was certainly…different. Different from anyone in Edgewater, or anyone else he’d met in the colony, for that matter. She was charismatic, intelligent, and if he had to admit, _very_ attractive. But, she was also a liar. He had caught on to her slip-up when she introduced herself. Her name was “A-something,” but it certainly wasn’t “Alex.” And if she was lying about her own name, there could be plenty more she wasn’t being honest about. Had he just been charmed into trusting her? Surely he wasn’t that weak…

Still, he had no other options left. He couldn’t trust any of the local yokels to retrieve it. And marauders made his own attempts at retrieval near impossible.

This mysterious woman, whoever she was, was his last hope at finding that book.

All he could do now was wait and hope that he hadn’t seen the last of “Alex Hawthorne.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parvati and Max are here! And yes, Aayla is immediately thirsty for Max. Who can blame her? LOL
> 
> Hope everyone's enjoying the story so far! I've been real excited to get the crew introduced in the story, I've got some great interactions planned for Aayla and her misfits. (and plenty of content for her and Max, don't worry!) I may also post some one-shots for ideas I had that don't quite fit in the main storyline, so be on the lookout for those as well. I am also still looking for a beta reader, so if you're interrested, please let me know.
> 
> As always, thanks so much for all the feedback and comments, guys. Look forward to the next chapter of Sea of Stars!


	4. Art Break: Aayla Ven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of updates, my day job and the Texas Ice Age kind of got in the way...Chapter 4 is about 50% done and should be posted in a few days. In the meantime, please enjoy some of my artwork of Captain Aayla Ven!


	5. It's Not The Best Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aayla contends with marauders and a moral dilemma

"The collector's domicile should be just across the river." Aayla said, tracing the path to the circled house with her finger. "From there, it's a quick jaunt north towards the botanical garden, and the power plant's off northwest from there. Easy enough."

She folded the map up, tucked it back into her jacket and took in her surroundings. Now that they were out of Edgewater, she was struck once more by just how pretty Emerald Vale was, all lush and green and mountainous, not unlike Earth in some ways. Yet it was all still distinctly alien. The fluffy puffball plants that swayed in the breeze, the bizarre dog-like creatures (Canids, she later learned they were called) roaming around, the Saturn-like planet that took up most of the sky, the massive volcano that Parvati assured her was not going to just suddenly erupt on them (probably). All of it equal parts foreign, fascinating, and somewhat frightening.

A perfect description of the colony itself.

The two women walked along a riverbank lined with smooth, flat stones just perfect for skipping. "I used to skip rocks in this river, till the Constable ticketed me for 'unlicensed terraforming,'" Parvati said as Aayla picked up one of the stones and rolled it around in her palm. "I think she was jealous. She don’t know how to skip rocks her own self..."

Aayla rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue dismissively. "Rubbish, the whole lot of them." With that, she pulled her arm back and gave the stone a toss. It bounced along the surface of the water once, then twice, then sunk to the bottom. She nodded with a satisfied hum before picking up another stone and offering it to Parvati with a grin on her face.

"Come on, what they don't know won't hurt them."

Parvati grinned back and took the stone from Aayla. She reared back and with a little huff of exertion, chucked the stone across the river. It bounced one, two, three, four, five, six times before landing neatly on the other side of the riverbank.

Aayla's eyes went wide with surprise and delight. "My word! You've got quite the arm, young lady!"

"Th-thanks!" Parvati bashfully rubbed the back of her neck. But her glee quickly faded when she caught sight of some movement across the riverbank.

"Parvati?" Aayla noticed her immediate change in demeanor and glanced over at the source of her concern. Three men in cobbled-together armor were roaming towards the riverbank. Marauders. A chill shot through Aayla, remembering how close she came to death at the hands on one of them just hours before.

"Get down!"

She felt Parvati grab her arm and pull her down towards the long grass, the only thing close to cover around the river. Aayla quickly complied, ducking into the grass just as one of the marauders turned his head.

"Vicar was right...it ain't safe out here." Parvati whispered, clutching onto the hammer in her hands for dear life.

Aayla whispered back. "I don't suppose we can just try...talking to them?"

"This ain't no time for jokes, ma'am!"

"Y-yes. Of course." She wasn't joking. As violent as they were, they were still human, weren't they? Surely they could be reasoned with? But judging by Parvati's reaction, talking it out was not an option.

And they were getting closer.

She had to think of something, quick.

"Right, here's the plan…I'll divert their attention. Once they're distracted, we make a break for it across the river and into that house."

Parvati nodded. Cautiously, Aayla lifted her head up out of the grass.

And was met face to face with a Canid.

Aayla barely suppressed her scream as she stumbled backwards. The Canid, just as startled as she was, bared its fangs and lept at her. Aayla threw her arms up in front of her face and clenched her eyes shut.

She felt dizzy.

She knew this feeling.

She opened her eyes and the world was purple, the Canid frozen in mid-air. Somehow, she had triggered it again, but how? Adrenaline? Survival instinct? Fear? If she could learn to control it...

She quickly rolled out from under it, got to her knees, drew her ruby-red pistol from her holster and fired. The first shot struck its face. The second reduced it to ash.

...what the hell kind of gun was this?

Before she could ponder it further, time suddenly snapped back to normal. Parvati was still hunkered down in the grass, awestruck at having seen this woman suddenly reduce a Canid to ash in less than a second. The marauders had also seen what happened. And they weren't impressed.

They were pissed.

"...Right, new plan."

Aayla turned her pistol on the marauders and fired. She managed to shoot out the knee of one, and downed another with a shot through his chest. But there was one more heading her way, screaming and swinging his saber wildly.

"Watch out!"

In a flash, Parvati was at her side and with a cry, she swung the hammer down and struck the side of the marauder's head. There was a loud cracking sound as the hammer made impact, with his helmet or his skull she couldn’t tell, and he went down in a heap.

Within a few seconds, it was all over. The marauders and Canid dead at their feet. As the adrenaline faded and Aayla caught her breath, the cold realization of what she had done hit her. Alex Hawthorne may have been a dashing gunslinger, but she was certainly not. Though she knew how to use a gun, she never had to open fire on anything outside of a shooting range. But now…now there were four corpses before her, killed by her hand.

She had a sickening feeling they wouldn't be the only ones by the time this was all over.

"W-We didn't have a choice." she rationalized, trying to seamlessly slip back into her Hawthorne persona. "We were forced to defend ourselves against violent attackers. Those people were going to kill us."

"…marauders ain't people, ma'am."

Aayla turned to Parvati, stunned to hear something like that come out of the girl. But the sorrowful expression on her face didn't match the harshness of her words.

"Least, that's what everyone says."

"But they were people, once. They had to have been...right?"

Parvati shrugged helplessly. "No one really knows. They just kinda started popping up outside the Vale and...hurtin' folks. Even if they were regular people once, whatever humanity may have been left in 'em is long gone now. Still..." she trailed off, glancing down at the bodies with regret in her tone. "I don't like it."

"...neither do I." Aayla put her hand on Parvati's shoulder reassuringly. She felt Parvati tense up for a moment underneath her shoulder pad, but she simply smiled weakly back at her. "Let's go. We still have a job to do."

After a time, they managed to scope out the collector's house, which Aayla proceeded to loot of its more useful items like rations, bits and ammunition. She simply applied the same rational she had to "borrowing" Hawthorne's clothing: better that she make use of it than just leave it to rust and rot. She soon found the book in question.

"All this fuss for one little journal..." Aayla mused as she ran her fingers over the intricate design on the cover. Despite its hard cover it felt thin, flimsy, almost a bit cheap. She wondered if there could really be some forbidden knowledge in such a shabby thing. "Only one way to find out..."

"Uh...I don't know if you should be readin' that," Parvati nervously piped up as Aayla started to open the cover. "It's banned, remember? You could get in a world of trouble!"

"Oh, one quick peek won't do any harm," Aayla waved a hand at her dismissively. "Spiritual enlightenment, here I come!" With that, she opened the book. And fell silent almost immediately.

"...umm, ma'am?"

"...Parvati," Aayla finally spoke. "Does the good Vicar speak French?"

She blinked in confusion. "French? Not that I know of..."

"Oh dear..." Aayla chuckled, an amused expression forming on her face as she carefully slid the book into her jacket. "He'd better start learning."

* * *

Aayla didn’t know what to expect when she arrived at the abandoned botanical garden. The way Reed and others had spoken about these “dissidents”, she half-expected them to be violent revolutionaries, or worse considering what she’d already encountered here. But much to her surprise, the deserter camp was more than accommodating towards them (save for the makeshift guard at the entrance). They were even kind enough to offer to share what little food and supplies they had available. It was still far from ideal, but it also lacked the downtrodden desperation she felt in Edgewater. Everyone here seemed much happier and healthier, as if the plague that hung over the vale didn’t exist out here.

It didn’t take them long to find the greenhouse. And much like the deserters themselves, the plants within seemed far healthier than anything she had come across in the Vale. Tall, thick trees reached the ceiling of the enclosure, with lush green ivy running down them. Below the trees, various crops were sprouting. Little signs in the dirt plots were labeled “cabbage”, “tomato” and “tobaccorn.” Aayla had no idea what that last one was, some kind of local maize, perhaps?

Parvati looked around in awe, her brown eyes wide with amazement at being surrounded by so much nature. “Wow…”

Aayla couldn’t help but agree. “Wow, indeed.”

“Why, hello there.” An elderly woman with kind eyes and a gentle voice suddenly appeared from behind one of the trees. She reminded Aayla of a friend’s nan. “If you’re hungry, there’s meat roasting on the spit outside. If you’re bearing illness, find a place to lay your head down and I’ll fetch you a poultice. Whatever your troubles with Edgewater, leave them at the gates and be welcome here."

"Adelaide McDevitt, I presume?"

The old woman chuckled. "I have been called that, among other things. Greenthumb. Grandmother. The strange old lady who keeps flowers. But yes, Adelaide will do just fine."

"Excuse me, Ms. McDevitt?" Parvati piped up. "Sorry, it’s just, you got such pretty trees in here."

"Why, thank you. You’re Robert’s girl, aren’t you?” Adelaide smiled warmly at Parvati, recognizing her instantly. “I remember when you were but a sprout. Now you…" she turned her attention to Aayla. "You’re not from Edgewater, are you?"

"My name’s Captain Alex Hawthorne," Aayla introduced herself. "I'm here on...business.”

Adelaide raised an eyebrow at her, but kept the warm smile on her face. "I see. I'm not sure what business would bring you to a place like this, but we're pleased to have you here, Captain.”

“We were just admiring your greenhouse. It’s quite impressive.”

“The garden belongs to us all, dear,” Adelaide explained, gesturing to the crops and foliage surrounding them. “Life is the gift of the universe, and the universe yields its bounty equally, absent of prejudice.”

“I’m amazed you can grow anything out here at all.”

“The soil around the Vale went sour years ago,” she explained. “But I found a way to sweeten it back up. The secret recipe is a little bit of elbow grease, a dash of love, and a heaping helping of my secret fertilizer.”

Aayla paused for a moment. She wasn’t a gardener or farmer by any means, but even she realized that with results like this, there had to be more to it than just run-of-the-mill fertilizer. But before she could ask, Adelaide changed the subject.

“Are you staying long? You should try some of my tobaccorn tea. I brew it in an old spittoon, but it’s been cleaned."

"That's a...lovely offer, but I'm afraid we'll have to decline," Aayla tried to hide the grimace at the thought of drinking tea out of a spittoon. "We're here on behalf of Reed Tobson, and-"

"Reed Tobson…?"

The minute she mentioned his name, the warmth in Adelaide’s demeanor was replaced with a seething anger. "You’re here on behalf of that cold-eyed reptile?" she practically hissed, venom dripping from her voice.

Aayla was startled by her sudden personality change, but she simply cleared her throat and did her best not to show it. "He's...brought forth a peace offering, if you will."

Adelaide remained hostile, now glaring at the Captain as if she were some poisonous viper threatening her whole community. "Let’s hear it. What's Reed’s idea of peace, then?"

"He is willing to make amends if you and your followers return to Edgewater."

Adelaide scoffed at her. "Make amends? Spare me. Only thing Reed knows how to make is a mess. Like everything else that comes out of Edgewater, that peace offering is canned. I and my own are living just fine out here by ourselves." With that, she turned on her heel and started to retreat deeper into the greenhouse.

Aayla's firm voice stopped her. "This is serious, Miss McDevitt. I’ve been given the authority to cut power to this settlement."

Adelaide turned back to her, a cold fury burning in her ancient eyes. "You’re doing this for Reed? Why?"

"It's nothing personal, I assure you,” Aayla replied. “Your camp has a power regulator, and I need it to repair my ship."

"Cannery’s got a regulator too. You want ship parts, you ought to rip ‘em out of the cannery’s guts and leave us be,” Adelaide was still angry as she approached them again. But then, her tone shifted. “In fact, if you’re going down to the plant, you should divert power away from Edgewater and towards our end of the grid."

"I’m sorry?"

"You’ve seen that miserable excuse for a town with your own lamps. Hollowed-out workers laboring their lives away at the cannery. Living off whatever scraps Spacer’s Choice throws them. Every single person in that town has sold themselves to Spacer’s Choice. The company owns them: body, blood and bone. They give their lives for a heartless corporation, and then they’re tossed into a Spacer’s Choice-brand cemetery.”

She had to admit, Adelaide had a point. She remembered how appalled she had been when speaking with the people of Edgewater, how every other sentence that came out of their mouths was a Spacer’s Choice salespitch. She recalled one particularly upsetting conversation where she learned a worker at the cannery had committed suicide and his co-workers had to pay for his gravesite because they had allowed him to “irreparably damage company property.” It was inhumane. It was despicable.

It was exactly what she expected from the Board.

Then Adelaide turned her venom onto Parvati.

“You know that’s true, don’t you, Miss Holcomb?” she challenged as she approached her. “Your father died of overwork. His heart gave out."

Aayla turned to her young companion, whose face instantly fell at the mention of her father’s death.

"H-he was tired all the time, sure,” she muttered, looking down. “But he was old, ma’am. And he raised me all by his lonesome."

"Look what they did to this child,” she said, shaking her head like she was scolding Parvati. “Lost her family to the company, and still she defends them."

That was crossing a line.

Aayla quickly inserted herself between the two woman. "I don’t much like you throwing that in her face to get me on your side,” she said it calmly, but her icy blue eyes were staring daggers into the elder woman.

"I’m all right, Miss Hawthorne,” Parvati whispered, trying to smooth things over. “I ain’t that fragile."

"That was unkind of me. I’m sorry, dear.” Adelaide backed down, but Aayla remained between the two, arms crossed and eyes firmly trained on Adelaide. She continued to plead her case. “But think about it. You’d be liberating an entire town from a lifetime of service to that odious cannery. Seems the sort of thing a hero would do."

"A hero to whom, exactly?"

"A hero to the people who matter. To us. To the ones who come around, the ones you save. Reed will never understand. He has been too long inebriated on the wine of corporate culture. All he sees is productivity. Output. Profits. You bring power to Reed’s town, and you’ll be killing us. Reed knows this. He’s counting on it."

A brief silence fell over the greenhouse as Adelaide rested her case and Aayla pondered over her words.

"You’ve made your point, Miss McDevitt. I’ll…see what I can do."

* * *

It was well past sundown by the time Aayla and Parvati reached the power plant. Fortunately for them, the facility was deserted, save for the few rouge automechanicals roaming the halls. They were able to dispatch them with little trouble, shooting machines was far more palatable than shooting marauders. Soon enough, they were standing before the power generator.

Aayla paused for a moment and considered her options once more: If she diverted power to Edgewater, all of Adelaide’s work would be destroyed and the deserters would have no choice but to return to Edgewater, plague and all.

If she diverted power to the gardens, the entire town, and all the people in it, would most certainly perish. A few townsfolk may be able to join up with the deserters, but there just wasn’t enough space in that tiny encampment for all of them.

“What to do, what to do…” she muttered.

"Umm, ma’am?” Parvati’s quiet voice piped up, barely audible amidst the humming of the machinery. “I’m sorry you had to get wrapped up in all of this. I know you just want your power regulator and all. But, I just gotta ask you...do you understand what you're about to do?”

“I should hope so.” Aayla replied, still staring intently at the screen. “...but I wouldn't mind hearing your opinion.”

“I…I just think that…”

“It’s all right, love,” She raised her head up from the screen and turned to the young engineer. “Speak your mind-”

“I don't think you should cut off Edgewater's power, I think it would be cruel!” Parvati suddenly blurted out. Aayla blinked in surprise at her sudden outburst. “I'm-I'm sorry. That just sorta came out all at once. It’s just…Edgewater's hurting. We've been losing workers year after year, and corporate hardly ever sends replacements. There's barely enough saltuna to fill our bellies anymore. But the town's got some good people in it. Decent, hard-working folk just living their lives the only way they know how. They don't deserve to be punished.”

Aayla agreed. Even in the pitiful state that they were, Aayla couldn’t help but feel for the town of Edgewater.

“Still...the deserters are a community,” she mused. “Is it really right to destroy what they've built?”

“Miss McDevitt's really built something beautiful,” Parvati agreed. “Somehow she's talked the ground into giving life again. It's plain to see she's made the Vale a better place. Fed the hungry. Tended the sick. Gave a home to those who had none. But...Miss McDevitt delights in Edgewater's suffering. She wants to hurt the town. Do you really want to be party to that kind of hatred?”

“...I'm not so sure it's the town she hates.”

“What do you mean?”

“Parvati, do you know why Adelaide left Edgewater?”

“I don't know the particulars; all's I know is she left after her son died.”

Aayla perked up. “Adelaide had a son?”

“Yeah, he worked in the cannery. I never met him, but I heard he was a real nice boy. But one day he was just…gone. And that night, there was a real big to-do between her & Mr. Tobson. I could hear them both yelling clear from my own place.”

“What were they arguing about?”

“Can't say as I know. I wasn't there. The sound carried, but not the words. The next day, Ms. McDevitt was just gone, and a couple other folks followed soon after.”

Aayla closed her eyes and brought a finger to her lips, processing everything she just learned. Adelaide had a son in the cannery. The night he dies, she has an argument with Reed and leaves town. Perhaps she somehow holds Reed responsible for her son’s death? She didn’t have the full story, and that annoyed her. But she suspected neither Reed nor Adelaide would be willing to chat again until she finished the job.

“Anyway, I didn't mean to babble on like that,” Parvati said. “I just - I felt like I had to say something.”

Aayla opened her eyes and smiled softly at her. “That's quite all right. You made some very valid points. Besides, I like talking with you.” She turned back to the screen and took hold of the handle in front of her.

She had made her decision.

* * *

The lighting had always been less than ideal at the mission. It wasn’t quite as noticeable during the day, but at night, the dim, reddish lights made Max’s readings and studies all the more difficult. 

Just one more reason to get out of this Law-forsaken place.

With the last parishioner of the day finally gone and the mission cleaned up, Max was more than ready to return to his personal studies. He had spent the last few nights pouring over his well-worn copy of “Of Equity And Equations,” hoping that reviewing his old seminary coursework would offer him some new insight into the Grand Plan. After all, he was no longer a fresh-faced, ignorant student, but a proper Vicar. What he didn’t understand as a child would surely make sense to him now.

But, no such luck. No matter how much he labored over the yellowed pages and scribbled thoughts he had made in the margins, the textbooks offered him nothing he didn’t already know.

Grumbling, he closed the book and put it back in its proper place on the shelf. He was about to call it a night when suddenly the lights began to flicker.

“Great,” he thought. “Another blackout…”

The lights wavered for a moment, and then stayed on, far brighter than they were before.

Well, that was new.

As he glanced around the now well-lit office, he heard a small commotion just outside the mission doors.

“Hey, look at that!”

“Whoa…I’ve never seen the streetlights glow so brightly before!”

“Did you hear? All the machines at the cannery are fully operational again!”

“It’s a miracle! Law be praised!”

But Max knew the truth. His mysterious Captain “Hawthorne” had chosen to save Edgewater over the gardens.

* * *

“I think you did the rightest thing you could sending power back to Edgewater,” Parvati said, beaming at Aayla as she stepped down off the control platform. “Lotta people would’ve suffered otherwise. People I care for, even if they ain’t much care for me.”

Aayla nodded, but was still brooding. “We may have restored power to the town, but it may not be enough. There needs to be real change in Edgewater, elsewise this whole fiasco could start all over again. I’ll need to speak with Adelaide again, and with Reed Tobson.”

Parvati gulped. “Miss McDevitt ain’t gonna be too happy with us…”

“You let me worry about Adelaide. Just leave everything to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry it took so long to post the next chapter. Been haivng some medical issues pop up that needed tending to. The next chapter should come out much quicker, so please look forward to the next installment of Sea of Stars!


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